Monday, April 13, 2015

USC Wins Eight Events At The Jim Click Shootout In Tucson

 

Freshman Dior Hall won the 100m HH today with a time of 13.17 to move into 8th on USC's all-time list.
Freshman Dior Hall won the 100m HH today with a time of 13.17 to move into 8th on USC's all-time list.

April 11, 2015
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TUCSON, ARIZ. - USC won eight events led by Kendall Ellis who ran the ninth-fastest women's 400m race all-time by a Trojan and set a school freshman record and Dior Hall hurdling into the Trojans' top 10 in the 100m HH at the Jim Click Shootout hosted by Arizona at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. today (April 11). The track events began with the men's 110m HH and there were two heats. Freshman Marquis Morris was fifth in the second heat and overall with a time of 14.46 (-1.0). Senior Jemal Williams was fourth in the first heat and ninth overall with a time of 15.09 (+1.8) and senior Allen Williams was sixth in the second heat and 10th overall with a time of 15.10 (-1.0). The freshman Hall and senior Melia Cox were next in the women's 100m HH and Hall won with a time of 13.17 (+0.1). Cox took third in the event with a PR of 13.34 (+0.1). Hall moved into eighth place on USC's all-time 100m HH list and Cox is just outside the top 10 now in 12th place. The next race on the track was the women's 3000m steeplechase and USC had senior Kira Soderstrom and junior Jenna Tong running. Soderstrom placed second in the event with a time of 11:01.25 and Tong took third with a time of 11:40.36. The men's 4x100m relay team of senior BeeJay Lee, junior Andre De Grasse, junior Just'N Thymes and senior Bryan Mercado took second with a time of 39.08. LSU won the event as Aaron Ernest had a strong anchor leg to lead them to a stadium-record time of 38.95. The women's 4x100m relay team of freshman Deanna Hill, freshman Gabriella Cantrell, Hall and sophomore Destinee Brown also took second with a time of 43.78 as they lost some time on the second exchange. LSU won the event with a stadium-record time of 43.23. Junior Katerina Berdousi then placed fourth in the women's 1500m race with a season-best time of 4:32.53. That was Berdousi's best time in the 1500m race since the 2013 season. Freshman Ricky Morgan placed sixth in the men's 400m dash with a season-best time of 46.72, just off his high school PR of 46.67. Jemal Williams was sixth in the first heat and 15th overall with a time of 50.74. The freshman Ellis won the women's 400m dash with a USC freshman record of 53.01. Her time just bested the previous school freshman record of 53.02 set by Malika Edmonson in 1998. She also moved into ninth place on USC's all-time women's 400m dash list. Ellis turned it on in the final 200m and ran away from the field for a 1.26 second victory. The men's 100m race was a strong showing for USC as Lee won with a time of 10.16 (+0.4), Thymes placing third with a season-best time of 10.37 (+0.4), Mercado taking seventh with a season-best time of 10.58 (-0.2) and redshirt junior Jovonte Slater placing 14th with a time of 10.87 (+0.4). Hill won the women's 100m dash with a time of 11.47 (-0.1) as the Trojans had three of the top five finishers. Freshman Ky Westbrook was third with a time of 11.54 (-0.1) and sophomore Destinee Brown was fifth with a time of 11.62 (-0.1). The 800m races were next with the men up first. Freshman Robert Ford finished third with a time of 1:50.75, followed by senior Myles Andrews in fifth with a time of 1:51.64 and freshman David Manahan taking 13th with a time of 1:59.53. Junior Reika Kijima posted a slight PR of 2:11.75 to place eighth in the women's 800m race. Senior Erica Capellino was 10th in the women's 800m with a season-best time of 2:12.68, junior Natasha Strickland was 12th with a time of 2:18.41 and freshman Emma Kao was 14th with a time of 2:20.34. Junior Jaide Stepter was the only Trojan running in the 400m IH races today and she won the women's session with a time of 56.14. She set her PR last week of 55.83 which currently is tied for second on the world leader board in the event, with teammate Amalie Iuel ranking fourth. Prior to that race Stepter's PR had been 56.99, so today's race was her second fastest ever. The men's team then competed in the 200m race with De Grasse taking second into a strong headwind with a time of 20.70 (-2.3) and Just'N Thymes taking third at 20.73 (-2.3). USC had five of the top eight finishers with Morgan placing fifth with a time of 21.32 (-1.0), senior Davonte Stewart taking seventh with a time of 21.37 (-2.3) and Mercado finishing eighth with a season-best time of 21.49 (-1.0). The women did nearly as well with five Trojans finishing in the top nine of the women's 200m dash. Westbrook led the way finishing third with a time of 23.55 (+0.0), Cantrell was fourth at 23.57 (+0.0), Hall was fifth with a PR of 23.79 (-1.7), Brown was seventh at 23.93 and senior Akawkaw Ncha-Ndip was ninth with a season-best 24.07. Berdousi then came back to take fourth in the women's 3000m race with a season-best time of 10:07.22. She hasn't run that many 3000m races for USC, but again it was her best time since the 2013 season. Soderstrom took eighth in the 3000m race with a time of 10:28.95 and Tong was 10th with a time of 10:50.42. The final races on the day for the Trojans were the 4x400m races. The men were up first and the team of Andrews, Ford, Morris and Stewart did not finish, as they fell behind and with 200 meters left on the final leg, Stewart pulled up with tightness in his hamstring. The women's 4x400m relay "A" team of Ellis, Ncha-Ndip, Hill and Stepter won an exciting race, holding off LSU for the victory with a season-best time of 3:32.87. USC and LSU battled the whole way with USC holding a slight lead after one lap and then taking the lead back on a gutty third leg by Hill. Stepter was challenged the whole way by LSU's Chanice Chase, but she refused to give up the lead and brought the Trojans home with the victory and the seventh-fastest time in the early season. USC's "B" team of Kijima, Kao, Capellino and Strickland placed sixth with a time of 4:06.26. The Trojans got things started at 9 a.m. with the women's hammer throw with senior Alexandra Collatz, senior Jenny Ozorai, redshirt sophomore Erika Peyton and sophomore Tanya Sapa scheduled to compete. Ozorai cruised to victory with a winning throw of 194-10 (59.40m), nearly five meters farther than the next closest competitor. Sapa placed seventh with a throw of 156-6 (47.70m) and Peyton took eighth with a best mark of 154-2 (46.98m). Collatz did not land a legal throw during the prelims and did not advance to the finals. Senior Diego Lopez then placed seventh in the men's javelin throw with a PR of 179-5 (54.70m). Freshman Dominic Smallwood led the Trojans in the men's long jump by taking fifth with a best jump of 22-3.75/6.80m (+1.0). Jumping the same distance but with a wind of +4.3 to take sixth was Slater, while Jemal Williams was eighth with a best jump of 20-3.00/6.17m (+0.0). Redshirt freshman Nick Ponzio was the next Trojan to compete and he placed third in the men's shot put with a best mark of 59-4.25 (18.09m). Junior Tera Novy then won the women's discus throw competition with a best throw of 184-10 (56.35m), her third straight meet throwing over 182. Collatz was right behind her in second with a best throw of 180-11 (55.15m). Smallwood came back to place third in the men's triple jump with a season-best leap of 47-7.00/14.50m (+0.5). Allen Williams finished fourth in the event with a best jump of 47-2.50/14.39 (+0.0). Ponzio also competed in the men's discus throw competition and placed fifth with a mark of 163-1 (49.72m). Novy and Sapa competed in the women's shot put and placed second and fourth respectively. Novy took second with a mark of 49-2.25 (14.99m) and Sapa was fourth with a season-best throw of 46-8.00 (14.22m). The final field event for USC was the men's high jump where senior Michael Krone competed. Krone had a 2015 outdoor best clearance of 6-11.75 (2.13m) to take second place. The meet featured five strong programs from power five conferences in USC and Arizona from the Pac-12, LSU from the SEC and Illinois and Purdue from the Big Ten. The meet was scored with individuals awarded 10 points for a win, eight points for second, six points for third, four points for fourth, two for fifth and one for sixth place. In the relays, 10 points were scored for a win, eight for second, six for third four for fourth and two for fifth. USC placed second in the women's competition with 144 points, behind LSU's 169, while the men's team finished fourth with 80 points. The Trojans will compete at the Mt. SAC relays next week in Walnut, Calif. from April 16-18 and at the Long Beach Invitational on April 18 in Cerritos, Calif.

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